Bright Lights
by Liddleheart
Summary: Living a tough life our new heroine Amy wishes hard enough to awake the dragon and finds herself flung into the Dragonball universe. Clueless to her surroundings, Dragonball z mangas not existing in her world, she befriends our beloved son family.
1. Chapter 1

Just in case you haven't read my other work I'll let you know that I am not Akira Toryama so therefore I do not own Dragonball... I also do not own Starbucks... This is based after the Cell saga, but there's no sign of Buu, I doubt he exists in either of the universes we're going to be hanging around in, or if he does, he's not got much interest in anything that could upset our saiyajin.

I know it sucks but this story is based from the mind of an original character, Amy is mine, hell, this story is actually almost my way of letting the world how my crazy little mind drags its self through every day and why one minute I'll be extatic and the next minute I'm sad and silent.

There may be some topics mentioned that people do not like and do not agree with, abortion being one, there's also going to be eating disorders, depression, smoking and even alcoholism and drug abuse, so yeah, a hell of a lot of angst and nastyness. As I said, this is sort of a way of helping me get a lot of things off my chest that I cannot tell anyone, I'm gonna pour a lot of feeling into this... It's more for me than other people's enjoyment but let me know what you think all the same...

**Chapter 1: Flourescent Tubes**

The lights were bright overhead, glaringly bright fluorescent tubes burning into her retina as she reclined back in the strange chair. A hot water bottle resting on her lower stomach as the world swam around her, god this hurt. Swallowing thick mucous and saliva she shivered, sure she was going to throw up, or pass out, maybe just start crying. It was over now; she could hear the gentle voice of a nurse "would you like a cup of tea or coffee?" she responded, not sure which she asked for only sure that she'd wanted no milk and two sugars.

Later she shuffled back from the toilet "are you ok love?" that kind nurse's voice again, nodding the affirmative she slumped carefully back into the weird chair "any blood?" she shook her head and lifted the white plastic cup, coffee, she sipped, cheap coffee. "Is it alright if we send a letter to your family doctor, so they know you went through with the abortion?" She felt sick again, nodding with an affirmative "hn" 'abortion' another word for 'murder' she shivered again. But it was better than the life she knew she'd be able to offer her child... It wasn't a child, it was a small collection of stem cells, perhaps they'd be used for research. She doubted it; this was only helping herself, not anyone else.

----------------------------------

She lay on her back, those same bright lights again but this time the ceiling was beautifully dark red and instead of a sympathetic nurse, there was a lean, middle aged man with a few too many piercings in his friendly face. His brow furrowed under spiked bleached blonde hair as plastic gloved fingers pulled gently at the skin on her stomach. The buzz of the tattooing needle had become familiar to her in the months since that incident at the family planning clinic 'family planning'? That was a sickly nice way of putting it.

This was her fifth and final session at the parlour, it had cost her a great deal of her hard earned money, but it seemed so worth it. The tattoo artist was just finishing off the monochrome head of a long serpentine dragon; its nose stopped two inches above her navel, neck sweeping up under the left hand side of her ribcage then round her back, the tip of its tail by her right hip bone. Beneath its tail laid seven spheres, the man had asked her what they represented, she had shrugged, not sure herself, just something she'd dreamt.

Money exchanged hands, along with the repeated aftercare advice, she stepped through the low door into the bright afternoon sunlight. The fabric of her vintage white t-shirt rubbed her tender skin underneath, the snarling face of Sid Vicious glared in black print from her torso. She tugged a bent packet of cigarettes from the back pocket of the black drainpipe jeans that should have been clinging tightly to her frame but instead hung low on her bony hips.

The last cigarette placed between her lips and the flick of her lighter, she sighed, how different she was from that scared girl of months ago. Gone were the shoulder length golden waves, replaced by a pixie style short cut of icy platinum blonde, gone were the worries of being able to squeeze into whatever jeans. Her chipped red and black nailed fingers rose to pluck the cigarette from her lips as she let out curls of smoke. Beat up black Doc Martins announced her movement as she headed back toward the centre of town.

-------------------------

She winced at the worried look that was towering above her, the dark eyes of her once best friend fixed on her frame. "Shit Amy…" her blue eyes now rather large in her wasted face now found a small pebble on the ground that was considerably more attractive than anything else. "I mean, the tattoo is… It's amazing, and I love the haircut but…" She felt her chin lifted by a strong hand, cerulean drowning in chocolate "what have you eaten today?"

Amy tilted her head, she could not lie so she flicked her tongue over the titanium ring that clung to one corner of her bottom lip "do two coffees and eight ciggies count?" the disappointed look on her friend's face made her shiver "I can't face it Toby, it makes me sick" she dropped to the floor sitting Indian style, her tall friend sat down opposite his large hand enveloping both of hers.

"You couldn't even come have a Starbucks cupcake with me?" his large brown eyes imploring "Or a Banana Java Chip?" Thin black dreadlocks hung about his handsome face, Amy's face spoke volumes, she looked almost as though she was about to cry, but Toby knew she wouldn't she had not been able to for months.

"I'll try a little Java Chip… No promises though…" Toby pulled her up and wrapped his strong arms around her frail shoulders her cheek resting on her chest. As they moved away, Amy lit another cigarette, much to her companion's disgust, he hated her smoking. His arm was round her waist, tears in his eyes as he felt her ribs against his arms.

-------------------------------

Amy was lying on her bed, she stared blankly at the ceiling, white but no fluorescent lights. She was wishing, wishing so desperately, she wanted out, she wanted to be away from all this, all these memories. She loved Toby dearly, but she could not bring herself to tell him what she had done, how could she announce to her best friend 'hey, you remember that night we decided we'd lose our virginity to each other, well, I got pregnant then I aborted your child without asking you'.

As she drifted into a painful sleep she was sure she felt something stir on her stomach right where the dragon's head lay. A warm feeling by her hip bone where those spheres were depicted, that was a nice feeling amongst all this pain.

----------------------------------

She shifted, cold and her mattress felt very hard, one hand reached out and touched, grass? Her eyes slid open facing a space of greenery, confused as they focused on a leafy canopy above her. She sat up stiffly, why was she in a wood, she'd not gone out last night, or gotten drunk, she was in bed at home. Shivering she stood up running her thin arms around her torso over the t-shirt that proclaimed 'Make toast, not war' around a cartoon slice of toast and on the back 'give peas a chance' below a cartoon depiction of a smiling green pea.

Her feet clad only in thick striped socks began to lead her legs wrapped in baggy pale blue jeans towards a destination they had not yet informed her mind of. Her small slightly turned up nose picked up the scent of frying eggs, at least there was a house or café nearby.

She broke the line of trees and spotted the cottage within the clearing, an idealistic setting, she imagined an old retired couple residing within those white walls when she saw a small boy tumbling out the door. His hair was black and wild dressed in bright orange pyjamas "Dad! Daddy! Breakfast's ready!" his young high pitched voice called out, he must have been no more than six years old.

"Coming!" a cheerful voice sounded from somewhere behind Amy, slightly to the left, she turned that way to see a man filtering through the trees at a light jog. She stared in disbelief, her small mouth opening a little as she saw his face. The man despite clearly being a few years older than herself looked so much like her Toby she was dumbstruck, sure, this man had wild black hair instead of the tame dreadlocks of her friend, and he seemed considerably more muscular but other than that…

"Um, hello, who are you?" she blinked her bright blue eyes staring at him dumbly the man tilted his head "I'm son-Goku, were you looking for Gohan?"

Amy shook her head and blinked "Um, who? No, I wasn't… I'm Amy… Where am I Mr Son-Goku?" the tall man grinned his entire face lighting up with it.

"You're in my front garden, well, sort of, you want some breakfast, I'm sure Chichi will have made enough, perhaps, if Gohan's still asleep" He placed his hand behind his head and let out a cheerful laugh, so light and carefree it almost caused Amy's heart to twinge in pain.

"I mean, how far am I from Camden?" the man looked confused so she widened the search area "London?" still a blank look in those dark eyes Amy blinked, worried "what city am I closest to?"

He grinned "we're about twenty kilometres east from Satan City" it was Amy's turn to blink dumbly until she was ushered toward the house by this Son-Goku character who had never heard of London? "Come on, Chichi's gonna have me by the throat if I let breakfast get cold." His voice a constant light, cheerful, almost singsong.

Inside of the house was cosy and light, just like the man who lived there, his young son bouncing around him with questions of "who's this? Do they like eggs? Have they ever completed in a Budokai? Why were they hanging around our house?"

"GOKU!" the tall man suddenly had a saucepan millimetres from the tip of his nose "what took you so long the bacon's cold!" the owner of the shrill voice was a pretty Japanese looking woman with her hair pulled back in a tight bun, and comfortable yet pretty clothes fitting her pleasant frame well "and who on earth is this?"

"This is Amy; I took so long because she was confused… Chichi, do you know how far we are from 'London'?" Goku's wife stared at Amy with a hard look in her eyes then suddenly blinked "London? Never heard of it, is it a well known?"

It was Amy's turn to blink, confused, "it's the capitol city, how have you not heard of it?" she bit her lip for a moment "well, the capitol of England at least…"

"England?" A new voice questioned, a boy looking to be around her age padded down the stairs wearing only a pair of navy blue sweatpants, his black hair considerably shorter than the other two males and far more controlled "I heard about England in my history lessons, it was a really powerful little country, even more so than here once… But most of it flooded about a hundred years ago, before that antibiotic resistant pandemic that wiped out nearly half the world's population and we figured out how to combat global warming."

Amy's lips parted as she stared "a hundred years ago? Are you fucking with me?" the entire room cringed at her use of the language "sorry" she swallowed "are you kidding me?" the boy shook his head earnestly "so, what year is it?"

"766" piped up the youngest in the room Amy looked even more confused

"BC or AD?" she was met by a selection of blank faces until the one her age spoke again

"Oh, you mean old dates? I think it's something like 2197 AD… Who even uses those dates anymore? They were scrapped over seventy years ago!" Amy tilted her head "why should a world of different religions rely on a Christian calendar?" She slumped against the wall and slid down until she was seated on the floor.

"You're trying to tell me I just slept for one hundred and ninety years, and I'm not seventeen anymore, I'm actually two hundred and seven?"

A hand slid into hers and pulled her up, she wobbled and then was held more securely by the one who'd spoken to her most, his skin was warm against her pale arm "I'm Gohan, and unless you're an alien we haven't come across yet, I'd say you still look seventeen." Amy nodded still looking confused "well, I'm assuming you know that Dad's Goku, this is my Mum Chichi, and my little brother Goten. If you like, dad might be able to contact Kaio-sama and find out what's going on?"

"Gohan, is England one of those poor countries like Africa?" the big questioning eyes of Goten fixed on his older brother like he had every answer in the world.

"No, it was as well of as us in Japan" he said after letting Amy stand on her own and crouching down to his brother's level "why'd you ask?"

The little boy tilted his head "Because Amy's so skinny, like her mummy hasn't got enough food to give her." His gentle eyes were sad when they fixed on the girl. "Are you sick Amy?"

Amy blinked puzzled for a moment before nodding "Um, yeah, I am a bit, nothing that you can catch, but I am sick, I guess…"

His little face was worried before he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the breakfast table "Mummy always says the best way to get better is to eat lots and get your strength back" he pushed her into a chair then jumped with surprising ease onto her lap, landing far softer than he should have and simultaneously reaching for several strips of bacon. Amy swallowed nervously regarding the food on the table, all steaming and smelling professional, and enough of it to feed five times the number that surrounded it.

Or so she thought for only a few moments until she saw how quickly the three males were putting away the food. She found herself nibbling quietly on a slice of toast before a sausage was stuffed in her face by Goten "they're really good, try one!" he announced. Amy held back a shudder.

"I can't, I'm vegetarian." The little boy looked confused until her brother explained that it meant she did not eat meat and she was met with a surprised stare "not even chicken?" she shook her head "what about bacon?" again, shook her head, "not even turkey or salami or fish or beef or lamb?"

"Nope, no meat at all" his little mouth dropped open "I really don't like it at all, I don't mind other people eating it but the thought of eating it myself makes me feel a bit sick…" she noticed the horrified look on her female host's face and tried to recover "but I must say those hash browns, eggs and mushrooms look delicious, Gohan would you pass me the scrambled egg please?"


	2. Chapter 2

All the same warnings and disclaimers apply here that did in the last chapter, so don't you dare sue me or anything!

**Chapter 2: Shenlong?**

Amy sat Indian style on the soft rug of the Son family's living room; she was helping Goten with a jigsaw puzzle her belly totally stuffed with a slice of toast, half a hash brown and several forkfuls of scrambled egg. Chichi had looked at her with a worried expression, yet somehow Amy had managed to get away without insulting the fiery woman.

"Are you a good fighter?" Goten's sweet little voice piped up, she tilted her head in questioning "you've got lotsa scars, like Vegeta, he's a good fighter, only not as good as Dad or Gohan, you smell kinda like him too." Amy looked down at her bare arms, the criss crossed angry scars she had inflicted upon herself, she swallowed.

"Nah, I'm not very good, that's why I've got scars, I've lost a lot…" which was not a complete lie, and she could not very well tell this innocent boy she had inflicted most of the wounds upon herself. She leaned back, resting on her palms watching the little boy fondly.

"I could teach you to fight! I'm not very good, but Daddy and Gohan and Vegeta are teaching me and Trunks nearly every day" he grinned excitedly "you could train with us when you get better!" he jumped on her lap "please Amy pleeeeeease train with us!" then he looked down and Amy found her t-shirt lifted up as he stared at her stomach then ran round behind her to look at her back. "WOW!" he exclaimed lifting up the front of her t-shirt again "How come you've got Shenlong on your tummy, are you really a dragon?"

Amy frowned as Goku walked in to hear what the excitement was about "Oh, you know about Shenlong and the dragonballs too?" he questioned rather than stated.

"Is that what this dragon is? I just dreamt about it, I have no idea what it is…" it was Gohan's turn to enter and stare in wonderment at her stomach.

"Wow, nice tattoo Amy." An exclamation of 'Tattoo? Gohan don't you dare even think of getting one!' causing the teen to cringe as Amy let her t-shirt fall back down to cover the design. Gohan lowered his voice "Heh, mum hates all tattoos and piercings, she went mad when I asked if I could get my ears pierced."

"Guess she doesn't like how I look much then" she managed a smirk, the ring in her lip was not the only one she possessed, several brightly coloured studs decorated her ears and a bar with three lilac stars hanging from it graced the lower piece of skin from her navel. "Who's Vegeta, your bro's mentioned him, said you train together and apparently I smell like him?" She raised a brow.

Gohan smiled warmly "well, I guess you smell like him 'cos he smokes, not that any of us let on that we know, but it's not like we can ignore the stink" Amy blushed, she knew she probably reeked of stale smoke, it was a horrible habit she'd picked up recently "But he's an old family friend I guess you could say… He and Dad used to be sworn enemies, well; he hated Dad and Dad's always up for a good fight. But over the years Vegeta's mellowed out, especially since he and Bulma, another family friend, got together and had Trunks, this little squirt's best friend…" he ruffled Goten's hair affectionately "Now there's definitely a mutual respect and though Vegeta refuses to admit it, Dad's probably his best friend." Gohan flashed a smile to his father who returned it cheerfully "They're pretty evenly matched and the strongest outta the lot of us, the number of times they've saved the world" he grinned proudly "oh and they're the only two full saiyajins left."

"Saiyajins? Saved the world?" Amy looked puzzled for what must have been the hundredth time that day; she absentmindedly wandered for a moment if she'd be stuck with the expression for the rest of her life after this.

Gohan placed his hand on the back of his head and laughed, Goten decided it was his turn to talk "Dad's an alien called a saiyajin, so's Vegeta which makes me and Trunks and Gohan half saiyajins, 'cos our mums are both human… We're the only ones of our species left 'cos this guy Frieza blew up our home planet when Dad was a baby. They killed Frieza though, Daddy and Vegeta… Oh yeah, Dad's saved the world loads though, first time was from Pilaf, but he was a bit rubbish so it was easy, but then there was Demon King Piccolo, he was really tough and he was Piccolo's daddy, sorta and Piccolo was Gohan's mentor for ages! Oh, Piccolo's Namekian, you might meet him soon he's really REALLY tall and green and he's got antennas, but he's kinda grumpy so don't stare at them."

Gohan grinned "and there's my family history in a nutshell, thanks squirt" Goten grinned up at the much taller form of his older brother a look that seemed more than simple brotherly love but great respect and almost awe. Amy smiled, she'd always wished for a younger brother, often becoming good friends with her friend's younger siblings and even working in a kindergarten over one summer vacation. Another question suddenly poked at her mind.

"So, what's with this Shen…?"

"Shenlong? He's the eternal dragon, created by Dende, earth's guardian. He kind of bursts from the dragonballs once you get all seven together and say the correct mantra, then he can grant you any one wish…"

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be telling a complete stranger all this?" Chichi appeared looking somewhat flustered, Amy bit her bottom lip nervously as Goku placed a hand softly on his wife's shoulder.

"Amy-chan's got a good heart, she's not going to go do something evil, I know it" He smiled down at her "Remember Chichi, it's not always about what people look like, it's what they feel like and Amy-chan feels loyal and kind." He suddenly looked up and slightly to the right "Gohan, go get dressed, Vegeta and Trunks are on their way."

The teen sprinted up the stairs with a somewhat excited expression as Amy felt a little hand tugging on her pant leg "you coming to train with us?" he noted her slightly worried expression "or you could watch, pleeeeease will you watch?" Amy smiled and with a moments hesitation ruffled his hair.

"Sure kiddo, I'll watch you guys, as long as your mum doesn't need any help with the dishes or anything?" She ended it like a question and turned her head toward Chichi who rolled her eyes and disappeared into the kitchen "Hm, I guess she's ok then…"

----------------------------------

Goku opened the front door just as what looked like to Amy as a fairly short man with incredible hair gel and a relaxed enough attitude to allow his son to dye his hair purple appeared. Gohan practically tumbled down the stairs and thrust a pair of black boots into Amy's hands "noticed you only had your socks on" he stated with a smile "they might be a bit big but they're better than getting wet feet"

"Who's this Kakarot?" the short man spoke in a deep almost chocolaty voice that sounded like he should be making speeches to entire nations and commanding respect.

"Vegeta, this is Amy, I found her this morning, she's from England nearly two hundred years ago, isn't that cool!" Goku grinned and turned toward her "Amy this is Vegeta" He gestured to the man who must have only been two inches taller than herself "and his son Trunks" Amy stuck out a hand for Vegeta to shake, for some reason it seemed appropriate to show this man a good deal of respect, but he ignored her gesture.

"Taking in strays, she looks diseased Kakarot." One of Amy's eyebrows rose and her lip curled in distaste "Hm, at least she has some attitude" his brows furrowed slightly "and some dormant power"

"Yeah I thought so too" Goku grinned then made his way out of the house saying goodbye to Chichi and hurrying his sons "she's just watching today, she's ill you see, hardly ate anything at breakfast but once she gets better I think we should see what she can do." Then suddenly Amy felt something like static around her, then she was alone, blinking and confused.

"Oh, sorry" she heard above her, lifting her gaze and spotting the group some hovering some actually flying away, her knees buckled and she found herself kneeling on the grass as Gohan landed beside her "I guess no one can fly in England…" Amy shook her head, hardly believing what she was seeing but confirming in her head that these guys had to be something special, even if they were not really aliens "hold tight" she hardly registered what was happening when Gohan's arm was around her waist and the ground was disappearing below her feet. She let out a little yelp of surprise and gripped onto the navy blue fabric of his top.

----------------------------------

Amy watched in amazement as Goten and Trunks sparred, in the air with balls of pure energy flying between them, her fingers tapping against the grass when she felt the air move beside her. "Got a light?" her fingers delved into her pocket to pluck out the stainless steel lighter before her automatic response slipped out.

"Only if you've got a ciggie" she felt the small metallic object being plucked from her fingers then something light and papery replacing it in her palm. She glanced up to see Vegeta lighting his own with a tiny charge of energy from the tip of his finger, twisting her lighter this way and that before flicking it open and regarding the flame, sniffing it then dropping it back into her hand.

"Nice and simple, I like it" He smirked down at her, nervously Amy lit the cigarette he'd given her then slid the lighter into her pocket while taking a drag.

"Wow, these are smooth" she raised both eyebrows.

"Non-carcinogenic too"

She nodded "cool cool, shame it means I can't call them cancer sticks any more though."

Vegeta smirked at her then sat down one leg relaxed, bent out to the side, the one nearest Amy bent up to his chest with the hand holding the cigarette draped lazily over it. "You're not really ill are you, you don't smell of disease or anything" his dark deeply knowledgeable eyes fixed on her own pained blue "you are this way because you choose to be, you have some strange desire to disappear, and somewhere in your slightly damaged mind you believe you do not deserve the luxury of a decent meal."

"Damaged mind, I resent that slightly Vegeta-sama" She rose the cigarette to her lips and took a drag, drinking in his surprised expression.

"H-how do you know to call me that?"

"We're in Japan aren't we? Just because I'm English, doesn't mean I can't speak Japanese."

Vegeta raised his eyebrows "This isn't English we're speaking, _this_ is Japanese, what you spoke just then, 'sama' that's saiyajin"

Amy frowned "But, it's Japanese, I learnt it by watching anime and by doing a language course…"

"Have you ever heard of Kami?" Amy shook her head "and I'm assuming Piccolo is a new name for you too, and Roshi?" Again she nodded "You see, Kami was earth's guardian before Dende, and he has been around several hundreds of years, Piccolo, well, more precisely Demon King Piccolo was also around when your time should have been if you were simply from the past you must have heard of them, their battle that Roshi the Turtle hermit as he's now known took part in, not to mention the languages…"

Amy frowned "then what are you suggesting?"

He shrugged "Perhaps you're from an alternate timeline, like Mirai Trunks was, you must be aware of the phenomena of alternate universes all folded over each other or laying side by side."

"This is an alternate universe, nearly two hundred years ahead of mine?" He nodded "So, how am I here?"

"That I believe only you can answer, Goten was babbling about Shenlong just now, what do you know of the dragon?"

"Only that he exists within some dragonballs? Created by Dende and he can grant wishes… And apparently I have him tattooed on my stomach." She blinked "actually, that might make sense, my closest friend looked almost exactly like Goku only with less wild hair and less muscular but he was big on martial arts…"

"You speak about him as though he no longer exists."

"He might as well not do, how am I supposed to get back?"

"May I see the tattoo?" With a little reluctance Amy lifted her shirt slightly frightened by the way Vegeta leant in towards her "Were the dragon balls always like this?" she shivered as his gloved fingertips lightly touched the portion of the tattoo next to her hip.

"Huh?" she glanced down to see them glowing a faint orange as her eyes opened wide "What the…?"


End file.
